Robot 6

Saturday Shelf Porn | A map of Alison Sampson’s world

After a too-long hiatus, Shelf Porn is back! Today’s shelves come to us from Alison Sampson in the UK, an architect and comic creator who, as you can see in the image above, drew her shelves. How cool is that? The image above is part of a four-page story she did for a UK anthology, and she breaks down what was on them for this edition of Shelf Porn (and provides some photos of what they look like now).

If you’d like to submit your shelves to us, it’s easy — just send me a write-up and some images at jkparkin@yahoo.com.

And now here’s Alison …

*****

When I drew this, I’d just finished work with my last employer and also a long three years-plus long project to design a University somewhere in the UK (I’m an architect by profession). The room is a real place. It became my whole world when I lost my job, in February 2011. This said, you don’t have to move to travel and as time passed and I sought work, my ideas traveled on. When it was mentioned to me that Tom Humberstone, the editor of UK anthology Solipsistic Pop, was looking for contributions on the subject of maps and travel, I applied and eventually submitted a four page story (the above is pages 2 and 3), which is included in the current edition.

The map is in three panels and it is not only a map of the room (all drawn to the same level), but possibly a map of something else- but what?

The drawing contains references to work by many artists, whose drawings were there at the time (I collect original comic art from mainly UK artists of around my own age). The artists represented are as follows, and their work ranges from being almost recognisable to pretty much invisible in the drawing:

Glyn Dillon (the map on the back of the door)
Jason Shawn Alexander (2 locations: the Mouseguard drawing on the back of the door and the Marvel Zombies drawing on the right)
Jock (3 locations: Judge Dredd sketches, a sketch on the mantelpiece and part of a Losers page)
Dustin Harbin (Diary Comic)
Daryl Cunningham (Daleks)
Duncan Fegredo/ Mike Mignola (Hellboy)
Ryan Kelly (Juno)
Paul Holland Davies (Juno)
Rob Davis (2 locations: his comic Slang and as editor and cover designer of Nelson)
Woodrow Phoenix and the Nelson artists
Phillippa Rice (Juno)
Guy Davis (BPRD)
John Allison (European fox)
McBess (Nobrow: on the mantelpiece)
Ben Newman (on the floor)
Dan Berry (also on the mantelpiece)

This is a close up of Jason Shawn Alexander’s Mouseguard drawing, on the back of the door:

Glyn Dillon’s map, also hung on the back of the door and possibly part of his forthcoming book, The Nao Of Brown, can best be seen here. (Scroll down to the “Journey from the East” map.)

Here are some close ups of the shelves as they currently are (some of the art has changed and there are more books):

The mantelpiece:

The Junos I’ve gradually accumulated over time. The collection is really a survey of comic art, and I’m lucky enough to have some beautiful examples of the work of artists that I admire, including Duncan Fegredo, Frank Quitely, Sean Phillips, Glyn Dillon, Simon Gane, Roger Langridge, Jock and Mick McMahon. Here is a sample of the collection: sketches of Juno by (clockwise from left) Mike Hawthorne, Dustin Harbin, Rob Davis, Matt Timson, Manon, Becky Cloonan, Jamie McKelvie and Paul Holland Davies (whose Juno shows up in the above drawing).

There are not so many comics here, as I only really discovered them a couple of years ago. Since then, I’ve tried to find out as much as I can and have logged the finds on my art blog.

There are books from publishers from all over the world, and a smattering of art books and postcards (the last book I read was Frederik Peeters’ Sandcastle). Many European books aren’t available here, so we have to go to France to get them, or search out translations as and when they come up, from publishers such as SelfMadeHero, Cinebook and Blank Slate Books. After discovering the range of what is possible in comics, and being inspired, I’ve since picked up a pen to draw, for the first time since my 20s. The SP4 drawing on the shelf is mine, and now I’m currently laying out a comic which I hope to spend a bit more time drawing. At the Thought Bubble comic convention in Leeds this weekend, I was lucky enough to have not only a Marvel portfolio review, but also the chance to receive advice and comments from the artists present, and I want to build on that. Please wish me luck.

News From Our Partners

Comments

4 Comments

Quality over quantity, Allison! For only having found comics a couple years ago, you fantastic taste. And finding your art through your blog, I must say you’re extremely talented as well! From one aspiring professional to another (though I want to write), keep up the amazing work!